Glass
by ArwenLalaith
Summary: Tag to 'In Name and Blood'. Emily Prentiss is like glass in a lot of ways - versatile, beautiful, tough, yet fragile...but the one thing she's not, is transparent. Co-written with Confetti Leaves.


By the time a knock on the door snapped her out of her reverie, she had been standing by the window for almost an hour without even realizing so much time had passed. It hadn't been one of the more difficult cases, the kind that got to her, but she was left unsettled nonetheless...her run-in with Strauss hadn't been particularly pleasant. She should have known that Strauss put her into the BAU because she needed somone to do her dirty work.

When she opened the door to reveal who was on the other side, she felt a little comforted to know there was someone who cared. She smiled softly when he kissed the bandage on her forehead tenderly, as if it would hurt her if he kissed her even a little harder. "I'm okay, Derek," she assured. "It's just a little bump. It doesn't even hurt anymore."

"But you'll tell me if it hurts, even a little," he insisted, lacing their fingers together and pulling her to the couch. "I'm assuming you haven't had dinner. I brought Chinese."

They cuddled up on the couch, absently watching whatever was on TV that night while eating. But throughout the entire meal, Emily felt like something was off with Morgan. He was unusually quiet; she thought he would perk up after they finished their dinner, but he seemed as though he still had something on his mind. "Is everything okay?" she asked as they cleaned up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said quietly, "I'm just worried...you took a pretty hard hit."

"I'm fine, I promise." She kissed him lightly, a silent assurance. "Now, what's _really _bothering you?"

"Nothing's bothering me, baby."

She bit her lip and sighed. "Derek, we both know that's a lie. Something's bothering you and you're not telling me."

"It's nothing important."

"Baby, it doesn't seem like it's nothing important," she said gently, "Tell me, I want to help."

"Don't worry about me, okay? I'll be fine," he said, shrugging.

"You're not fine. Something's bothering you and you're acting all weird because of it. I'm scared and worried and I want to help, but you won't let me! How can you ask me to not worry?" she asked, exasperatedly. "Don't shut me out, Derek."

"Me? What about _you_?" he snapped, the words escaping before he knew he was going to speak, "What about you shutting me out of a huge decision that affects both of us!" He immediately felt bad for lashing out at her. "I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head, "I didn't mean that."

"Yes, you did," she said flatly. She was silent for a moment, waiting for him to elaborate, but his guilt kept him clammed up. "This is about me quitting." It wasn't a question.

"Let's not talk about this now," he said gently, "I don't want to have this conversation while you're hurt."

"No!" she snapped, a little more sharply than she'd intended, "I'm just a little sore, I'm not dying – we can talk about it now."

"Baby, we don't..."

"I wanted to tell you..." she whispered, biting her lip, "I'm sorry. I didn't want to keep anything from you, but I knew that if I told you, you'd try and stop me. I couldn't have that."

"You should have told me," he said, a combination of betrayal and hurt in his voice. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you," she insisted, "This isn't about trust... I needed Strauss to see I wasn't going to do her dirty work. People always think because of my name – my parents – that I'm willing to sink to playing political mind games to get rid of anyone standing in my way." She restlessly ran a hand through her hair. "I decided long ago that wasn't who I wanted to be."

"You still should have told me," he murmured, gently squeezing his girlfriend's hand. "I don't want you to change yourself for the job. I know how you feel about politics. I would have done everything I could to help you."

"I know you would have – but I didn't want you to think I was using you. I just wanted to be with you, I didn't want you to think I had any ulterior motives..." she insisted. "It's happened before...I lose everyone, all my friends, my co-workers, everyone thinks I was only friends with them so I could use what they knew to further my career. It sucks..."

"Emily, stop," he said, "Do you honestly think so little of me that you think I wouldn't give you the benefit of the doubt? Do you really think I don't know you well enough by now to know that you'd never do something like that? After how long we've been dating, after how long we've been friends...Em, I know you better than that and I thought you knew me better..."

She cut him off, "You say that now, but if I hadn't quit, who knows how different things would have been – the grass is always greener... I know you're a good guy and I know I can always trust you to do the right thing – I know you would have stood by me, but inside, you'd be upset I was leaving. You wouldn't see that it's a good thing – if I quit, we wouldn't have to hide anymore... You could concentrate when you're on the job and not worry about me. Isn't that better for us?"

He cupped her cheeks, leaning forward so their foreheads were pressed together. "But you wouldn't be happy. I want you to be happy, Em. I don't want us to be together if you're not."

"I _am _happy," she insisted, sounding close to tears, "That's why I couldn't tell you – I didn't want things to change. I wanted to let you in, I really did, but I didn't want to lose you. I didn't want you to think that I wasn't worth all the trouble of being with me..."

"Trouble to be with you?" he repeated incredulously, "Emily, I _want _to be with you, it's not a burden; I'm not here because I think I have to be, I'm here because I love you."

"You love me?" She stared up at him with wide eyes, looking completely astonished. In her heart, she had a pretty good idea of his feelings for her, his actions said it all, but hearing him saying it aloud was a complete surprise.

"Yeah, I love you. I'm sorry I took so long to say it, but I thought you knew," he smiled, kissing her forehead gently.

"I know," she insisted. "But saying it aloud makes this – us – serious."

"You don't want us to be serious?" he asked, confused.

"No, I want us to be serious," she said. "But being serious scares me. It means it'll sting more if I lose you and I don't want to lose you." Taking a deep breath, she looked seriously into his eyes, "I love you too."

He leaned in and when their lips were almost touching, he whispered, "You're not gonna lose me, I promise – I'm not going anywhere without you. I love you."

"I know," she murmured, trying not to smile foolishly, a little amazed that he'd managed to change her mood so completely with three little words.

He stole a quick kiss. "I'm not going anywhere," he repeated, "No matter what. So, no more secrets."

"No more secrets."


End file.
